Early Literacy

Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read or write. You can help develop early
literacy skills by reading and talking about books and telling stories to children starting at birth. There are six skills that
research has determined children must know before they can learn to read. Parents can help even very young children learn these
skills and grow up to be successful readers and learners. You can give your child a life-long advantage if you start now to develop
a love for books and reading.

Narrative Skills

Narrative skill is the ability to describe things and events and tell stories.

Why is it important?
Being able to talk about and explain what happens in a story helps a child understand the meaning of what she is reading.
Good narrative skills lead to good reading comprehension.

What can you do?

Let your child tell a story using props or puppets.

Ask your child to tell you about something that happened to him today; ask for more details so he can expand his narrative.
Ask questions that cannot be answered with “yes” or “no.”

Tell your child stories to help her learn how a story is told.

Choose a book you’ve read a number of times. Read it again and at certain points, let your child tell you what happens next.

Have your child draw a picture and tell you what is happening.

Encourage your child to talk about the pictures in the book even if what she says is not in the story.
Follow your child's lead as your child talks about what is going on in a picture. Ask open-ended questions,
ones that cannot be answered with yes or no.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is knowing the names of things.

Why is it important?
Children need to know the meaning of words to understand what they are reading. When you think about it, you know if
you are reading a word correctly if you have heard it before. You are sounding it out. The more words children hear,
the more ready they will be to make connections when they read.

What can you do?

The best way to help children learn new words is to talk and read with them. Reading is especially important because books
often use different words than everyday language.

Explain unfamiliar words to your child rather than substituting familiar words; this exposes children to many more words.

Talk about concepts that are real but can’t be seen, like more/less/same; before/after; above/below; feelings; time and
seasons; also ideas like fairness, friendship and honesty.

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words.

Why is it important?
Being able to hear the beginning and ending sounds that make up words will help children sound out words when they begin to read.
This helps children break the code between written language (letters) and spoken language (sounds).

What can you do?

Sing songs and say Nursery Rhymes. Most songs have different notes for each syllable, helping children break down words in a fun way.
Sing throughout the day, as you do routines like bathing, dressing, putting toys away, etc. Make up your own songs, too!

Read rhyming books, repeat rhymes and make up silly rhymes.

Play “I Spy” games: “I spy something black that rhymes with (or sounds like) sat. What is it? CAT.” or “I spy an animal that is long and wiggly.
It starts with sssss (not essss). What is it? SNAKE.”